Episode 1019 - 2 Chefs Compete
The nineteenth episode of Season 10 of Hell's Kitchen aired on FOX, on September 4, 2012. On that episode, Christina and Justin went to Las Vegas, competed in their final challenge, and reunited with their old teammates. Elimination Continuing from the previous episode, Ramsay named Christina the first finalist, and while surprisingly stunned by that, she hugged him in response. Then, Ramsay told Justin and Dana that they each had great highs in the competition, but because there was only one spot left, the former was named the second finalist, therefore eliminating Dana. Before leaving, Ramsay urged Dana to keep her head up high as she had an extraordinary palate and allowed her to keep her jacket. During her exit interview, Dana received a retrospective montage. Ramsay gave no comment on Dana’s elimination, and she did not receive the portrait burning sequence. Intro After Dana left, Ramsay congratulated the finalists, and Christina wanted to jump on the table in celebration. After reminding the two that one of them would become the head chef at Gordon Ramsay Steak, Ramsay warned them that their next 48 hours would be difficult before telling them to come up with a winning menu with four appetizers, four entrées, and three desserts. While going back to the dorms, Justin was shocked that he made it to the final two over sixteen other chefs, and that he had one more person to beat to win. After the two celebrated with champagne, they went straight to work on their menus as Justin hoped his father would be proud of him as in the past, he did not think he was cut out to become a chef. Meanwhile, Christina wanted herself on the menu as she cooked her entire life, learned a lot from her mother and grandmother, and hoped it would pay off. The next day, the final two woke up, and Ramsay called the dorms, asking the two to be at his office, making Christina nervous as they had a lot of work. At his office, Ramsay told the two that while it was important they each went through their menu items with the Sous Chefs, Andi and Scott were not at Hell’s Kitchen, dismaying Justin as it was a blow to the stomach. Instead, Andi and Scott were waiting for them at Las Vegas, surprising the two as Ramsay wanted their meetings pool side in private cabanas. That made Justin happy as he wanted a day of relaxing. After a quick pack up, the final two met Ramsay onboard their private jet, and Christina called spending time with him and on a jet amazing. When Ramsay told the two to enjoy themselves after their long journey, Christina knew she came a long way after dealing with the drama on the red team, putting her heart on each dish, and that she grew stronger at each service. After, Ramsay gave the two presents, revealing their head chef jackets, and Justin said it meant a lot to get one due to his journey as he was very focused since the start, became more confident after every challenge, and felt he found his voice. Before landing, Ramsay asked the two who would win, and they said themselves. Arriving at Las Vegas, Christina and Justin headed down to the Paris Hotel for some hand massages until the Sous Chefs arrived. However, Justin felt awkward to be sitting in a robe while Sous Chef Scott was in his chef jacket, although the latter was happy the former was wearing shorts. After the Sous Chefs went through the menu items with the final two, Ramsay gave them one last surprise in the form of their loved ones, Christina’s mother and girlfriend, and Justin’s parents. Justin was excited after figuring out it was not a mirage, and Christina said having her mom and girlfriend there for lunch was what she needed. Before leaving, Ramsay said he had arranged for VIP tickets at a Vegas show for everybody, and as everybody relaxed, Justin felt his parents were very proud of making if far in both the industry and the competition. Then, Christina called it a nice break as it reminded her of what she left behind to compete. Later that night, the final two and their loved ones met up with Ramsay to see the show, although Christina was uncertain if all of this was happening right now as Ramsay rarely made it easy for them. Ramsay revealed that they would be watching Penn and Teller, although Justin knew that there was no time to relax as Ramsay always had a trick of his sleeves. One of the trick Penn and Teller did was the classic body saw trick, and afterwards, it was revealed that Ramsay served as the legs. After, Ramsay turned the spotlight on Christina and Justin as it was time for their final challenge, although the former did not want to cook in front of people and wondered if she took an idiot pill to think she was going to relax, while the latter called Ramsay out of his mind. Final challenge For the Final Tasting Challenge, Christina and Justin had to cook five items from their menus in front of judges Ramsay invited, which Justin deemed a point of no return, and after changing into their chef jackets, they had one hour to cook their dishes. As the two raced into the kitchen, Christina felt her nervousness turn into competitiveness, and refused to lose. The final five had to make a salad, a seafood appetizer, a ribeye, a filet, and a fish entrée. Knowing that it was the final challenge, along with the knowledge Justin was going to bring out what he had, Christina tried to keep it simple while the latter went balls to the wall. As the challenge continued, Christina knew cilantro was powerful but wanted to trust her instincts, while Justin did a salad with different techniques. 15 minutes left, Christina wanted her filet to have some richness and mouth melting, while Justin felt his ribeye dish was his strongest dish. Eventually, the final two had their dishes cooked and plated on time. For the first round, Francois Payard came to judge the salad round, and Justin was shocked the former was going to eat his dish, even comparing it to a high school basketball player meeting Michael Jordan as he presented his charred heirloom tomato salad with feta cheese crumble, compressed watermelon, and baniels vinaigrette. Payard praised the dish for being fresh and a nice summer salad, and after, Christina presented her grilled asparagus and fried egg salad with baby arugula and freshly shaved peperino. Payard deemed the dish very nice and simple, but felt there was a lot of vinegar for his liking. So, Justin scored that round, giving him the lead at 1-0. On the seafood appetizer round, Michel Richard came to judge, making Christina nervous as he was her idol before presenting her coconut shrimp ceviche. Unfortunately for her, Richard got dismayed when she mentioned cilantro as he hated that herb, but despite that, he praised the dish for being well seasoned. That made Christina sigh in relief as it meant she was still in it. After, Justin’s Ecuadorian styled poached shrimp ceviche was praised for being delicious, he scored that round, and led 2-0. While Christina was not happy she got her ass beat in front of her idol, Justin he was going to make a clean sweep because if he got one more round, the challenge would end in his favor. For the fish entrée round, Julian Serrano came to judge, and Christina presented her pan seared halibut with purple potato puree and grilled spinach. Serrano praised the flakiness of the dish, along with having a good flavor and balance, but while Justin’s dover sole with duck fat fingerling potatoes and wild asparagus was praised for the flavors, it was criticized for having an overcooked fish. After, Christina scored that round, Justin led 2-1, and she felt it was her fight back. On the ribeye round, Stuart Gilles came to judge, and while Christina’s port wine ribeye was deemed nice and visually perfect for a steakhouse setting, Justin arrogantly felt it was too old school before presenting his charred pimatizi ribeye with beer battered onion rings. However, while Gilles praised the combination of the flavors, Christina won that round, making the score a two-point tie. On the final round, Wolfgang Puck came to judge the filet round, which made Justin shocked in disbelief as everybody knew who the former was. Then, Justin’s charred filet mignon with butter poach lobster and glazed carrot jue was praised for the charred component, and after Christina presented her pan roasted filet with veal bone marrow and gorganzola mashed potatoes, she hoped Puck loved her dish. Puck deemed it not bad, and mentioned he loved both dishes, but after a tough decision, he gave Christina the point for the taste alone, and she won the challenge 3-2. While Christina felt great after the victory, she knew it was not over yet as it was back to business the next day, while Justin warned her to watch out as he was more determined than ever. Team selection Returning to the airport, Ramsay announced that there was one more thing they had to do before returning to Hell’s Kitchen, although Christina hoped it was nothing too crazy. As the private jet’s doors lowered behind Ramsay, he announced it was time to pick their brigade as Dana, Barbie, Clemenza, Robyn, Brian, Kimmie, Royce, and Patrick came out of the jet. Christina called it the most difficult decision she had to make as her team could either sink her or lead her to victory, while Justin was getting into the zone as he did not want to pick somebody who was tired. After welcoming back the returning chefs, Ramsay reminded them that it was now Christina and Justin relying on them, although Robyn commented that she was not surprised it was those two in the finale, but at the same time wasn’t going to cheer. Because Christina won the previous challenge, she got first pick of the drafts, and she deemed it crucial as it also meant she would not get the final pick. Christina named Dana as her first pick, and the latter said it was an obvious choice because they were best friends, while Justin picked Barbie as his first pick. While shocked that he was not Justin’s first pick, Brian did not hold anything against the former as he was happy to be back, while Barbie was not surprised as she had been the best chef on meat that season. Despite Clemenza feeling that he was the best chef left to pick after Dana and Barbie, Christina picked Patrick as her second pick, and although Clemenza was surprised as she never worked with the former before, she claimed it was she felt Patrick was a natural leader. For his second pick, Justin picked Brian, and he was happy to be on the former’s team as they were on the same page. Then, Christina picked Kimmie as her third pick due to the latter’s experience on meat, and although Robyn felt she should have been picked over Kimmie, she was used to being the outcast by now. After a tough decision, Justin named Royce as his third pick due to the latter’s hunger as he was not smiling, disappointing Clemenza has he had no idea what the thought process was anymore, but Justin felt Royce needed to prove something. That left Robyn and Clemenza as the final picks, but Christina had a hard time picking one of them as Robyn has been dramatic since the start, and Clemenza was not a quick performer on top of being sloppy, while Justin was getting nervous as he might get Robyn, and did not want the drama. Ultimately, Christina named Robyn as her final pick, and while Justin was left with Clemenza, the latter was not happy that he was overlooked over many people. Before service Returning to Hell’s Kitchen, Christina and Justin took their brigades to different spots at the dorms, and the latter knew he had a lot to talk about to his team as it was his life on his hands. Meanwhile, Christina went over the menu with her team, but after mentioning a dish that had both scallops and risotto on the same plate, Dana got dismayed as they already had a lot of problems with the two dishes in the past. Then, when Christina revealed that she asked for a 14 oz bone in veal chop, Kimmie asked what the fuck she was thinking as it was enormous. While Christina called it intense to have her fate in the hands of her team, she completely trusted them, and told them she was thinking of Vegas now. For Justin, he was going over the menu items as well, but Clemenza did not listen to him, much to his frustration. While Justin wanted Clemenza to understand that it was his life on the line, the latter got insulted when he felt the former was discrediting his work and did not have anything he had to prove, while Brian called Clemenza dead weight. Eventually, a frustrated Justin told Clemenza to leave if he did not want to perform in the final service, and just as the latter was about to leave, the episode ended in a cliffhanger. Category:Episodes Category:Season 10